I do not own any of the characters from RENT. I just take them out to play, I will put them back.

Please note, English is not my first language, so be easy on me if my grasp of the English language is not that it should be.

Thank you for reading

Joanne Jefferson pinned her hair back with a few bobby pins and ran her hands down the freshly ironed pinstriped pants. Her apartment was immaculate, as always, her files carefully arranged alphabetically, her groceries stocked with the labels facing out. Yes, she was slightly neurotic and bit more than slightly anal, but it was one lawyer trait that exemplified her. Strong, organized, out together. That was Joanne Jefferson.

Her cellphone rang shrilly, causing her to trip over her expensive designer shoes. "Damn." She muttered, pulling the offender out of her purse. "Good morning, Joanne Jefferson." She expected to hear the amazingly high-pitched voice of her lover Maureen Johnson, but instead she heard a sombre male voice identifying himself as constable James Crawford. Her mind wandered to happier times after she listened to him explain how her parents died in a car crash.

--

"So what are you going to do?" Tom Collins asked softly, watching the younger woman run her finger over the top of her beer mug.

"Go and take care of the arrangements I guess." She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Though there's something that not too many people know."

"Your parents are filthy and they left everything to you, their only daughter?" He asked hopefully.

"You're right up until the 'only daughter' part." She shrugged. "I have a sister. She was at boarding school...don't give me that look!"

Angel Dumont Schunard gave Joanne a hug. "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry."

Collins laughed. "Boarding school..."

"Who's going to boarding school?" Roger Davis asked sitting down beside Collins, his girlfriend Mimi Marquez beside Joanne.

"Joanne's sister." Collins said leaning back on his chair.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Mark Cohen said, placing his jacket on the table.

"Yeah, you didn't tell me that Pookie." Maureen said, joining the group.

Joanne sighed. "Yes I have a sister, her name is Alexandria. She's 16, and she's at Westover boarding school."

"Cost a pretty penny to go there." Roger noted, ordering another beer. "Does she know your parents died?"

"No, I took tomorrow off so I can go and tell her myself. It's not something you say over the phone." Her voice cracked and she swallowed hard, trying to keep from crying.

"I can come with you." Maureen said, running her hand down her lover's arm.

"I know...but...this is something I have to do on my own." She took a long swing of her beer. "Thanks for being here guys." Placing a handful of bills in Collin's hand she grabbed her jacket and left.

"Think she'll be okay?" Mimi asked as she watched Joanne weave through the parked cars and traffic.

"She will be, she's Joanne." Collins said joining her at the window.

"She has to, she's the strong one." Mark replied.

--

"Alexandria Jefferson? She's in class right now."

Joanne sighed. "I realize that. I'm her sister, and I need to talk to her."

"She's in her Political science class at the moment, I can see if I can page her." The woman relented finally.

"That, would be nice." Joanne replied, trying to keep her sarcasm low.

A few minutes later a girl wearing the blue, grey and white uniform of Westover school came around the corner. She was taller than Joanne had remembered, her dark curly hair pulled back in braids, her eyes hidden behind a pair of expensive sunglasses. "You paged?" Pulling the sunglasses down low on the bridge of her nose, she turned to her older sister and gave a sarcastic smile. "Oh, you've FINALLY decided to come and visit your sister? What, did mom and dad die?" The second the words were out of her mouth she frowned. "They did, didn't they."

"Alex…I'm sorry. There was a car crash."

The younger of the two shook her head and turned quickly, her black patent leather shoes making no sound as she raced down the hall.

"Alex. Wait…please." Joanne rushed to catch up, grabbing her younger sister by her forearm. "Lexi…talk to me."

The sisters looked a lot alike, Alexandria standing a few inches taller than her older sister, her hair darker and her skin lighter, though the biggest difference were in the eyes. Joanne had piercing black ones, while Alex had blue/green eyes, ones that seemed to burn into the very being of your soul.

"Talk? Talk about what? I see you, what, once a year? If I'm LUCKY? At Christmas? You're just here because you HAVE to be." She spit like words out like they burned her mouth.

"I'm here because we're FAMILY damn it and I love you. We only have each other." Joanne replied. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "How about I take you out for lunch? If I remember correctly, the food here stinks."

Alex chewed on her lower lip and stared at her older sister. "Okay. Only because you're right, the food stinks and I skipped breakfast."

"One meal, it's all I ask." Joanne reached her hand out. "Come on, let's get your jacket. It's raining out there."

--

"When did you start eating like that?" Joanne pointed to the plate of food Alex had ordered.

"I don't eat processed foods." Alex shrugged and picked at her veggie burger and sweet potato fries.

The silence enveloped them, Joanne watching her younger sister who seemed more interested in the décor than her sister.

"So when's the funeral?"

"Next week. I'll make all the arraignments for it." Joanne said softly.

"I'm 16, I'm not useless." Alex replied, placing her fork down. "I CAN help you know." Her voice softened and she looked at her older sister. "So what happens now? You ship me off to Westover each year I spend the summers overseas so you don't have to deal with me?"

Joanne sighed. "I don't want to just get rid of you. If you want to, you can stay with me and go to school in the city. You don't HAVE to stay at Westover, I won't make you. I want to be part of your life. Do you think you might want to come and live with me? I have a big apartment…and mom and dad left me as your legal guardian…"

"Can we get through the funeral first and then talk about it?" Alex's voice came out as a squeak. She blinked madly, trying to keep the tears from falling. She looked down at her plate, her chin quivering. Her body flinched when she felt Joanne's arm wrap around her, but she didn't look up.

"Hey, Lexi," Joanne started, using her childhood nickname to put the teen at ease. "How about we go back to your dorm and pick out enough stuff for the week and we'll go from there, how about that?"

The younger girl just nodded, wiping her eyes with her school tie.

--

"Joanne? Joanne Jefferson!?"

They turned around to see the headmaster of the school sprinting down the hallway. "It IS YOU! It's been YEARS! It's so great to see you again!" She wrapped the older sister in a bone crushing hug. "Here to see your sister? Alexandria is quite the student, but nothing compared to you, but you probably know that don't you?"

Joanne looked at Alex who glared out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. "It's nice to see you too Mrs. Morris. I'm just actually here to pick up Alexandria. There was a death in the family and we're heading to New York to deal with the arrangements."

"Oh you poor dears. Well Alexandria, you run along and grab your stuff. I'm sure there will be enough time for your sister and I to catch up, won't there Joanne?"

Alex shot a pleading look at Joanne. "Actually, we're already late."

"Oh. Okay. Well, when you come back we MUST catch up."

"We will." Joanne put her arm around her sister. "Let's go grab your stuff."

--

Alex pressed her face up against the cool glass of the car window and watched the scenery fly by. Their conversation had been nothing more than a few words and monosyllabic grunts.

Joanne's phone rang breaking the silence. She reached out and grabbed it. "Good afternoon, Joanne Jefferson. Oh, hey. Well, we're on our way back to the city. I would have to check, hold on…" Covering the mouthpiece with her free hand, she nudged Alex. "My friends are on the phone, they were wondering if you were up for grabbing a bite to eat once we come in. They want to meet you and lend their support."

The teen shrugged. "Whatever."

Joanne eyed her sister nervously before turning back to the phone. "Okay. We should be in town in about 20 minutes. We'll see you then." She shut off her phone and sighed. "Alex, I know we haven't been close…"

"Understatement of the year." She turned and roughly wiped her face with the back of her hand. "We're 15 years apart. That's like…a lifetime. I know you resented Mommy and Daddy for having me…"

"I did not…But like you said, we're fifteen years apart. I wasn't sure what to do with a little girl…you were so small…I was already away at school. I'm sorry I never made much of an effort…but…"

"I always thought you were the coolest. I had a sister who was a lawyer…who lived in New York by herself." She shrugged. "But I thought you didn't like me. So I just wrote you out of my life. Makes things easier that way." Turning back to the window she sighed. "How much longer till we get there?"

"About 10 minutes." Joanne whispered, the words resonating in her head. "I always thought you were a pretty cool kid."

For the first time all day Alex smiled. "I still am." She showed her deep-set dimples and perfectly straight white teeth that shone against her mocha skin.

--

"There they are!" Mimi squealed manning the window. She ran back to the table with the rest, waiting for Joanne to enter Life Café.

"You sure they're going to like me?" Alex shoved her hands deep into the felt of her expensive pea coat.

"Sure they are." Joanne put her arm around the younger girl and smiled. They walked into the noisy pub waving at the people sitting around the table.

"Oh my gosh! You look like a mini-Joanne! Baby Jo!" Angel squealed wrapping the girl in a hug. Alex frowned, pulling back.

"Whoa Baby, let the girl breathe." Collins said with a smile. "I'm Collins."

"Alex." She replied eyeing up the group sitting around the tables. She turned a deep crimson when she mentally tallied the cost of her school uniform alone, realising that it was probably more than everyone else's clothing combined.

"Mark."

"Roger."

"Mimi."

"Angel."

"Maureen."

Alex smiled and tried to remember the names. "Nice to meet you all." She said softly, sinking into the nearest chair.

Maureen wrapped her girlfriend in a hug. "Do you need any help making arraignments Pookie?"

"Pookie?" Alex mouthed watching her sister and the tall brunette.

Mark smiled and looked at the young girl. "So, tell us about yourself, Alex."

She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing, finally tearing her eyes off the lesbian couple. "You guys go first."